Hermione was moving in and out of consciousness. When she was awake for long enough, she was thirsty. It hurt to open her eyes. Her legs were immobile. The pain in her body was far too excruciating. She didn’t recognize the surroundings. It was all blurred.

Nearly fifteen hours later, she still lay helpless. She knew she was going to die. There was no doubt about it. But dying in a swamp of dirt wasn’t what she’d dreamt of. Heck, she hadn’t dreamt of dying at all! Not so early…Her eyes seemed not to have enough fluid in them to form tears. One look at her hand made her vomit all over. The sight of blood made her sick.

She tried to crawl, but her body did not cooperate. An attempt to scream made her realize that her neck was deeply cut and even speaking wasn’t a possibility. She tried to remember how she had ended up like this.

Angry paws and beastly hair flashed in front of her eyes and she let out a silent cry shutting her eyes tightly. She almost expected to feel the blow again. It did not come.

Stop hallucinating.

Slowlyshe remembered the events. She wanted someone to help her up. Wasn’t there anyone who could help her move away from the blood and vomit? She felt nauseated as her body floated in the filth. Like a struggling toddler, her wounded brown eyes looked up hoping to find someone.

Water…please, give me water…

She tasted blood.

She tried to move her hand to swim across and reach the cleaner ground. Her hands shook a little while her legs didn’t budge.

Three hours passed by and she still hadn’t moved more than an inch. Slowly, she lost consciousness.

*****

Hermione…

Was it the godly whisper? Had she in fact died?

Bleary eyes opened to find a pair of emerald ones looking down at her, concerned.

Harry? Why was he dripping wet? It wasn’t raining.

Hermione…I told you to be careful! Look what he has done to you! You must’ve killed him when I asked you to!

Were they tears which shimmered in his eyes?

“Help…Harry…”

He looked at her sadly, I’m sorry Hermione. I can’t do anything. But you have to pull through. You can do it. The monsters are gone. You have to move before they return. You can do it Hermione. Please…you need do this. Recover Hermione…get up and kill him.

Her eyes closed as darkness engulfed her all over again.

*****

Miles away, amongst the rubble, a lone figure hurried inside a dilapidated and ancient looking dwelling. The skies showed no hint of stoppage of the downpour. Casting nervous glances around the boy disappeared inside.

It was a strange night and something about it made the place eerier than normal. The patter of small drops of water could be heard. Slow whispers reached the ears of this black haired youth. He looked around to find the source of the said whispers, but found none. Thinking himself to be paranoid, he moved on. The surroundings were murky with an ominous scent in the air.

Something wasn’t right about this place. He checked the scroll of writing to ensure that he had arrived at the right destination. All seemed right. Shrugging, he put the scroll back and let it disappear into his deep pockets.

He shivered slightly; due to the cold or the surroundings, he wasn’t sure. Deciding it to be the best thing to do, he lit his wand. It helped him avoid any unexpected splash of water which was collected in the dented ground. Little rats scattered by. Trickles of water escaped through the holes of the roof and constantly hit his hooded head. Thoroughly irked, he finally reached the backyard, mumbling about inappropriate location.

“Well, I’m here now,” he said to himself. The place seemed deserted.

Slowly, his hands grazed up to his forehead to feel the strange shaped scar. With a sigh he looked around trying to locate a place where he could rest his sore feet. Finally he noticed a fine looking rock resting in the dark corner. With his tired legs begging him for respite, it seemed to be beckoning him. Exerting the same amount of caution, he moved to sit down. In his eagerness to be seated, he failed to notice the snake curled around the rock. No sooner had he sat down, it slithered away into the darkness.

Silence reigned, and it was hard not to notice the sounds from around. There was the hoot of the bat, the rhythm of the rain and also the stench of decaying flesh. All he wanted to do was to leave the place as soon as possible. His sharp eyes scanned around carefully, wand clutched tight.

It wasn’t long before he heard a new sound of echoing boots, as they marched through the damp ground. Looking up he saw a band of men approaching him. He rose to his feet and watched their arrival. A look of uncertainty crossed his eyes as he tilted his head to look at the way he had come. He had chosen this path and yet, he was hesitant. Turning around, he glared at them with renewed anger.

When he spoke, his voice held a note of authority which made the others bristle, “You’re late.”

“Cocky, isn’t he?” mumbled an irritated feminine voice. She seemed like she would say more before someone beat her to it, “Not now Bella.”

The boy looked between them, “Where next?” he asked trying to mask the nervousness he felt. He knew exactly where they were headed. Shouting at these men made him gain false security.

“Anxious to meet the Dark Lord?” cooed Bella.

He rolled his eyes, “Just curious.”

“Right," snapped one of the men from the group as the others looked at him, "no more small talks here, please. Young man go straight ahead. I’ll give you instructions and we’ll follow you.” The man then turned to Bella and said, “Blindfold the kid. And,” he glared at the now shivering youth, “don’t try to memorize the route, you’ll regret it,”

With all the arrangements made and the piece of cloth tightly secured around the boy's eyes, the clan moved on. Amid the spots of black, dark violet and blood red which flashed in the insides of his eyes, the youngster noted the subtle change of atmosphere around. No longer was there the sound of rain or wetness to the ground. It was hard not to try and remember the path but as they progressed, it became a futile effort. The many turns and twist on the way made him see stars. Giving up, he let their leader give him directions, which now sounded like a dull monotone. When he had almost given up the hope of reaching there in the near future, he heard the strict command to stop.

“Is that it?” he asked unsurely and felt the cloth around his eyes being yanked away unceremoniously. Taking a minute to steady himself, he watched as the group of darkly clad men came into focus. They had a quick communication amongst them before turning to him.

“The door ahead of you, open it and get in.”

Frightened, he did as he was told and pushed the ancient looking door. The loud screech it emitted made him wince and stop. He felt a hand shove him and he was forced to move inside. Something about the room made him shudder.

“Harry Potter!” said a delighted voice from inside and he jumped in surprise at the coldness they held. A huge throne like seat could be seen in the end of the room. Knowing his manners, he bowed low. A circle of men surrounded him

A chuckle brimming with amusement could be heard, “My, I must say, you have been trained well.”

Hiding the smug smirk, the emerald eyed boy looked up to see the Dark Lord looking at someone in the circle. It wasn’t a difficult task to guess who he was looking at.

“Has it begun?” questioned the quaint figure in front of him.

“Yes m’lord. I’ve done all that is needed.” Finding confidence with ever word he uttered he went on with no hint of remorse as he said, “Malfoy must be dead soon as you wished him to be. The mudblood is still afraid to carry her deeds, but it has been taken care of. The Weasley though…”

“Ah, worry not. Everything will fall in synch. Chaos will ensue. Not even Weasley can stand them. They will all perish soon.”

The circle around the duo exchanged gleeful glances.

“Yes my dear Death Eaters,” said the lord, “this fight will soon come to an end. Victory will be ours! Our dear little boy, my simplest creation, my masterplan to destroy. Celebrate! For our Harry Potter has made it all possible!”

Thunderous cheers reverberated around the small room as the dark haired boy bowed to accept the appreciations.

*****

Author's Note: I think the first part of this chapter could've been made better. But since I can't update for another week if I didn't do it today, I just let it be. Seriously, this was the toughest chapter to write. So far. Sigh. I'm sure I'm going to get more thorns for this one. Dang. No euphoria of finishing the next chapter this time :( Anyways. On a happier note...I UPDATED!!! w00t! XD Thank you so much guys If it wasn't for those words of encouragement, I couldn't have moved on :)

My apologies for the wait! But I have a valid reason...we had a national level play (which we won!) and two more plays are in progress now :( Which means I'm hard pressed for time! But I promise not to take so long with my next update :) Sorry!!

EDIT. If you know me...and my motto with my main characters so far...you should've gotten a hint in this chapter. If itz too subtle, just hang on a bit. For all the mysteries will be solved in the immediate chapters to come.